In response to the growing challenge of AI companies scraping and repurposing their content without authorization, several innovative startups have emerged to ensure that publishers receive fair compensation. Companies like TollBit, ProRata, and ScalePost are developing solutions to facilitate licensing agreements between content creators and AI firms.
TollBit functions as a digital toll booth, charging AI companies each time they scrape a publisher’s content. It provides media companies with analytics on bot activity and sets up a “bot paywall” that redirects unauthorized web scrapers to a warning page. As of May 2024, TollBit had 50 websites live on its platform.
ProRata has introduced an “attribution percentage” model to calculate revenue sharing based on the extent to which a publisher’s content is used in AI-generated outputs. This approach allows for precise compensation aligned with content usage.
ScalePost focuses on licensing video and audio content for AI use and offers tools for monitoring bot traffic at the URL level. It has partnered with AI search startup Perplexity on a revenue-sharing program, enabling publishers to sponsor related questions and receive a portion of the revenue when their content is cited.
The rise of generative AI has led to increased instances of unauthorized content scraping, prompting legal actions from major publishers like The New York Times and Dow Jones. In response, some AI companies have begun to acknowledge the need for new economic models to compensate creators. For instance, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has suggested micropayments as a potential solution, emphasizing the importance of developing new revenue streams for creators.
The challenge of pricing content for AI training is complex, with factors such as uniqueness and recency affecting value. Publishers are seeking solutions that provide transparency and fair compensation without hindering the accessibility of their content. The emergence of these startups reflects a broader industry recognition of the need to adapt to the evolving digital landscape, ensuring that content creators are fairly compensated in the age of AI.
As AI systems continue to ingest content in real-time to provide up-to-date information, and as AI-powered search engines gain popularity, publishers remain concerned about the diversion of revenue-generating traffic away from their sites. The initiatives by TollBit, ProRata, and ScalePost represent proactive steps toward establishing a more equitable relationship between AI companies and content creators, aiming to balance technological advancement with fair compensation practices.
These developments underscore the importance of collaboration between AI developers and content creators to establish sustainable models that respect intellectual property rights while fostering innovation in the AI industry.